


I love everybody (because I love you)

by beepbedeep



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Friends take care of each other, and have to figure it out!!, on an island, sometimes you get stuck, trying to make it work, with a bunch of other random people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28646073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beepbedeep/pseuds/beepbedeep
Summary: Secretly, if she had to pick a favorite part of this hellish, sand encrusted nightmare, it would be these treks with Dot – to look at the nearby bluff, to find food, whatever is on the list that day.
Relationships: Dot Campbell/Fatin Jadmani
Comments: 12
Kudos: 60





	I love everybody (because I love you)

The first thing Fatin notices about Dot is how _relaxed_ she is. And not relaxed in the way Fatin’s friends relax at parties, or on Sunday afternoons in their giant houses, all heads lolled and eyes vacant, the doze of someone who hasn’t been worried about anything real in their life, but relaxed the way someone collapses onto the sidewalk when they escape a burning building. This island isn’t paradise, sure isn’t anything like the tropical vacation they were all promised, but suddenly all their concerns are so much more immediate – food, shelter, trying to not rip one another’s heads off – that Fatin thinks they’re all breathing a little easier. (In some kind of totally _fucked_ way, because a creepy deserted island should not be more peaceful than their normal lives, but Fatin feels the knots in her own chest unraveling, the sharp ache of constantly worrying about curfews and recitals and hours of practice and her _fucking family_ unspooling with every breath of fresh air.) 

The island totally _sucks_ , soon she’ll need a third hand to count their collective breakdowns on her fingers, but she can’t help wondering if the way this place forces them to fight and forgive, wholly and completely, might be healing them, fixing all these scars Leah seems to think they carry. Either way, as Fatin watches Dot carefully as she guides them, makes sure everyone stays alive, all she can think is _thank god for this girl_. And she admires Dot, she wouldn’t listen to her otherwise, admires – almost loves the way she throws herself into things without any other motive than to _get the thing done_. 

(Later Fatin will hear about Dot’s dad, see the pain hiding behind all the bluster, and think that they are mirror images of each other – both trapped, both forced into positions they didn’t ask for, but while Fatin slides her way to the side of the problem, trying to keep everyone happy, Dot faces hers head-on, kicking and screaming. They make a good team this way, their instincts complementing each other easily, but Fatin thinks that it’s really their hearts that match, both held hostage by parents and families and _duty_ in a way she hasn’t seen someone else caught up in the same way before.) She never wants to see her dad again, she’s pretty sure Dot would cut off her left hand to see hers one more time, so when they sit around the fire each night Fatin always makes sure to grab it, to pull Dot away from whatever survival-task she’s working on, because the way Dot leans her head back and breaths out all at once hasn’t stopped sending a shiver down Fatin’s back.

Dot might be the first friend Fatin’s ever had – which she tries to not think about too hard or it freaks her out, because _she’s not very good at this_. She’s had casual friends before, she knows lots of people, but she’s always been too busy, and too scattered. This is different. They are keeping each other _alive_ , they are all keeping each other alive, but Fatin continues to find herself having a surprising amount of fun. She’s not used to _this_ kind of fun, easy and common, scattered around like the toys her brothers leave in the rug for an unsuspecting foot to find, she’s so used to joy being a rarity, purposely created and stolen from the rest of her life, covered in the pinching awareness that her parents would disapprove. 

This is just _fun_ , and happiness, and a break from their grueling choice to stay alive, to not let this island beat them. Dot seems to know this better than any of them, Dot who is used to making all the hard calls, who is trying so hard to keep them all going, and Fatin does try to show her gratitude, at last in small ways. She’s not good at the same things Dot is, but she is good at being irreverent, at reminding people there are other things to do besides work, so she makes that her personal mission – to get them all to take a break once and a while, to see Dot smile. Dot didn’t come to the island with a built-in-friend, but neither did Fatin, so she figures it’s best if they stick together. 

And they do, they all do, holding each other together with the few pieces of clothes they have left, with a tight hug or an extra piece of food, braiding themselves together like the friendship bracelets Toni and Martha wear. Dot puts everyone to work, and Shelby tries to keep their spirits up, and Martha tries to make sure everyone is kind, and Fatin is just trying to keep everyone sane. It’s not a job she’s perfectly suited for, but she does her best, with all the irreverence and lounging she can muster – even when all she needs to do is give her friends a common enemy. And not everyone notices her at work, she’s not even sure her efforts are doing anything, but she still tries to be there, to goad Rachel into taking a nap, to stop Leah’s frantic mind from spinning to too many conclusions, but Dot always does. They’ll make eye contact from across the beach, catch the other’s elbow on their way to get more water, no one is alone out here. Someone has to catch these girls when they break, and it might as well be her. And Fatin is trying to have some fun, so whenever Dot pulls her away on her latest two-person island excursion, she always follows. 

Secretly, if she had to pick a favorite part of this hellish, sand encrusted nightmare, it would be these treks with Dot – to look at the nearby bluff, to find food, whatever is on the list that day. Fatin releases her shoulders, runs to keep up with her faster friend, and relaxes into Dot’s reassuring presence, her warm voice, her plans for their next steps, whatever small thing they toss back and forth in the conversation like a frog hopping from hand to hand and back again. Somehow, it’s the most comfortable Fatin has felt in a long time.

And if, on one of these trips, after an especially taxing day of reminding everyone _to not take this survival thing too seriously you guys_ and trying to pull Toni back from Shelby’s throat, if Dot can’t stop thinking about how to patch the holes in their current shelter and Fatin (gently!) grabs the front of her shirt and pushes her (gently!!!) against the closest tree, stopping the conversation the best way Fatin knows how, well that feels pretty comfortable too.


End file.
